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Skeletal Muscle: A Brief Review of Structure and Function

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Abstract

Skeletal muscle is one of the most dynamic and plastic tissues of the human body. In humans, skeletal muscle comprises approximately 40 % of total body weight and contains 50–75 % of all body proteins. In general, muscle mass depends on the balance between protein synthesis and degradation and both processes are sensitive to factors such as nutritional status, hormonal balance, physical activity/exercise, and injury or disease, among others. In this review, we discuss the various domains of muscle structure and function including its cytoskeletal architecture, excitation-contraction coupling, energy metabolism, and force and power generation. We will limit the discussion to human skeletal muscle and emphasize recent scientific literature on single muscle fibers.

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Conflict of interest

Walter R. Frontera and Julien Ochala declare no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Suite 1318, 2201 Children’s Way, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA

    Walter R. Frontera

  2. Department of Physiology, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, PR, USA

    Walter R. Frontera

  3. Department of Human and Aerospace Physiological Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK

    Julien Ochala

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Correspondence to Walter R. Frontera.

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Frontera, W.R., Ochala, J. Skeletal Muscle: A Brief Review of Structure and Function. Calcif Tissue Int 96, 183–195 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-014-9915-y

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